Ben & Gwen: Dawn of an Adventure
by Burntrevenant
Summary: Ben/Gwen. AU. Everyone's life is a story unto themselves and we never tell the same story twice! Follow this tale along with Gwen as she comes into her own, discovering new people and great wells of hidden power as she has to deal with out of nowhere enemies,emotions, and mysteries all while trying to keep her doofus's head on his shoulders!
1. intro-Curve ball

* This story will flirt with alternate possibilities as well as some time-jumping in the future. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Curve Ball**

* * *

For a few years now, every summer since Gwen was 10 she had something to look forward to, for the most part.

That first summer back in 2005 had been a challenge, but she loved it. Gwen could and would admit that it had been a trial. At times, her doofus of a cousin would always force her to rise to his challenges though, truthfully, she loved it, being pushed and being able to push back. She was able to be her true self with him something she could never do at home with her mother around or at school. Than in the middle of this vacation: fate ripped through their lives like a flash flood.

On that day everything changed. Ben her baby cousin, her doofus, and her would be arch nemesis rushed head first into life threatening danger and gained the omni-matrix, an incredibly powerful device capable of changing its user into different species - well, to be more precise, different ALIENS!

This had terrified Gwen. Ben was now almost daily or at least weekly rushing head first into danger. This upset her deeply. For one thing Ben wouldn't listen to her warnings that the omni-matrix might in itself be dangerous, and two, unlike grandpa Max, she couldn't help him much.

Sure, she was athletic, had a propensity to think things through, and was very confident in her martial arts for a 10-year-old, but that didn't help when a two and a half meters tall hulking monstrosity was throwing your cousin through reinforced concrete dividers like they were not even there.

Every time she watched him fight to save someone's life "going hero", as he put it, she would become excited, but every time he was in a tight spot she had a horrible sinking feeling and a pang in her heart "What if this was the last time I ever see him again; what was the last thing I said to him!" This and more would flood her mind leaving her paralyzed at times, but Ben would always snap her out of it either by saying something so infuriating that she would have to defend all decency or by being surprisingly nice, though she doubted he saw it that way.

This would all change as luck was in the wind, but luck is a very interesting thing, even when it seems like it has turned against you, it can throws you a curveball.

* * *

*Special thanks to csgt he has been a great help to me and if you end up liking my works even 1 iota I suggest going over and reading his stuff. give him some more followers


	2. Chapter 1-Meeting Hex part 1

**Meeting Hex part 1**

For Gwen the last few days had been going really weird. She had even thought about going to see an optometrist. Mainly because she could swear that when she stared at people or objects long enough she could see faint colors outlining them. Not only that, but when Ben had really bothered her one day his cup of hot chocolate kind of exploded in his face. That might have been chucked up as a funny, if not strange, event if she had not just been staring at the cup and wishing for exactly that.

She was going over this in her head as they were driving along the freeway, when suddenly something caught her eyes. On the side of the road for an ever-brief moment a billboard seemed to faintly glow purple then fade away. This billboard was a little tacky but sported a distracting opportunity from the mediocrity of the day, "Come visit our world-famous witch museum."

Gwen was about to politely ask Grandpa Max if they could visit when Ben burst out behind her and pushed her head down saying, "Hey, Grandpa, could we go to this witch museum? It might be fun!"

Gwen could feel her eye twitch at him, so she quickly grabbed his hands and tried to wrestle some decency into him and "calmly" yelled at him, "Doofus, you could have asked him in a nicer way!"

Grandpa Max chuckled and said in his usual manner "So, I take it you want to see it too, Gwen?"

She flushed disengaging Ben, who yelled, "What is your problem Dweeb? I saw you staring at the billboard and thought it would be nice!"

Gwen shot him a quick glare and replied to Grandpa Max, "Yes, Grampa I would like to go to the museum, if it's not going to put us too far out of the way."

Grandpa Max chuckled again, "Then it is settled. We will be going to this witch-museum."

The museum was good for a distraction, but nothing seemed to invoke that weird glow that she had seen on the billboard. That was until they came upon a book in a display case that glowed brightly. Before the aged Curator who was giving the tour could explain the pieces, Gwen blurted out "The Archamada Book of Spells!"

This brought Gwen a scowl from the Curator, who replied in a dry and sarcastic voice and a raised eyebrow, "Yes, the Archamada Book of Spells. Maybe you should be doing the tour, young lady."

Ben laughed, wrapping his arms around Gwen with tears of enjoyment filling his eyes, and said, "Maybe you should, then at least it might be exciting."

Gwen smiled at his comment and looked back at the book. The Archamada was still glowing, but something else caught her eyes. On one of the edges of the book in an eerily dark blue glow was the word Bezel. Gwen cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Who is Bezel?"

The Curator look perplexed and said, "What?"

Gwen simply pointed to the word and replied, "It says Bezel, who or what is Bezel?"

The Curator came over, looked at the book, squinting and adjusting her glass a few times. Then she spoke in a condescending manner, "Young lady you may need glasses more than I, because there is no…"

Before she could finish the statement an ominous cackle came from behind the group, "My dear GIRL, do you not know that names hold POWER? Whoever is your master is lacking as a teacher."

Gwen and the others turned around to be faced with a tall almost grey skinned man, clothed in some kind of ceremonial black and red hooded stole vestment, black choker, leather clade shoulder necklace with a strange carved stone in the center, leather wraps, a ceremonial looking staff with a grotesque bird skull, and weird calf high pants. If this didn't stand out the fact that his face was painted or tattooed with the visage of a skull as well as having a large tribal tattoo on his right arm would have done it.

The Curator paled looking absolutely appalled by the sight of him and said sternly while looking down her nose, "Well, I never,….I don't know who you are or how you got in here… looking… like THAT!…but I do insist you leave at once sir!" she flailed one arm in a dramatic emphasis to these words.

Even with all the Curators antics the strange man never took his eyes off the book or Gwen as he started to approach saying, "Ah, the irritating sound of insects... I am Hex, master of my arts, and that book IS MINE!" these words seemed to have a strangle sonorous echo to it and the very building seemed to shake when he said them.

The Curator was shaken, but still tried to hold some level of dignity and authority, and stepped in front of him almost managing to say calmly, "Stop sir," then yelled with all the authority she could muster, "Guards, please come take this man away!"

The tall man stood there, not even acknowledging the Curator, and just smiled a venomous smile. As if taking some unseen cue the staff in his hand started to glow with a dark green light with eerie red smoke ebb out of the bird skull's mouth. Hex, as he called himself, looked directly at Gwen and spoke with the strange echo still in his voice, "Do you know what to do with insects, young Magi?" he brought the staff to bear and Gwen stood there, stunned, with her stomach turning, as Hex's body glowed and energy seemed to ripple off him like an overflowing cup.

Gwen was overwhelmed and stunned everything was happening so fast but she was quickly torn out of the stupor as Hex spoke next, "We….SWAT THEM!" Gwen stared in disbelief as a giant translucent hand seem to come out of nowhere tearing through the very air itself leaving trails of glowing red energy lingering as wisps behind it before hitting the Curator and sending her flying into a display case.

This caused the Curator to yelp as air exploded out of her lungs. The Curator laid still at the base of the display case, shattered wood and glass all around her. She had ether passed out or was killed on impact. No one had a chance to check though, before the guards were sprinting at Hex.

"I don't think this is part of the tour," Grandpa Max spoke.


	3. Chapter 2-Meeting Hex part 2

**Meeting Hex part 2**

Behind the slacked jawed tour group, Gwen caught a familiar voice saying, "XLR8 should mop this guy up quickly. Going Hero!"

But before Ben could use the Omnitrix, Hex gave another creepy smile and yelled, "Hashamayim letokh!" this sent everyone flying into the air and pinning them to the ceiling.

Ben started messing with the watch again, but when it made a beeping sound Hex quickly moved his staff around and broke whatever hold he had on the people, which caused everyone to fall screaming towards the ground. Thankfully Ben was able to turn into XLR8 and, somehow from mid-air accelerated to the floor quickly grabbing a large wall tapestry and managed to catch Hex's victims as well as Gwen and Grampa before anyone could hit the floor.

To this Hex laughed maniacally and said, "BOY! Leave the magic to the professionals!" and, with a flick of his wrist, he pointed the staff at XLR8 launching a few orbs of fire in his direction. Luckily they all missed, but they did hit a tapestry setting it ablaze. With another flick of the wrist the tapestry seemed to take on a life of its own flying off the wall to chase XLR8.

Through Gwen's eyes the tapestry had the same red glow flowing off of Hex. This energy covered the tapestry and even seemed to be connected to Hex though they were separated by several meters.

While she was studying the unfolding event, XLR8 ran in zigzag to avoid the flaming wall of fibers. At one point, XLR8 dodged an attempt to catch him by running straight up a wall, ending the fiery object's flight as it slammed into the wall and lost its cohesion.

This deeply frustrated Hex and he pointed his staff at XLR8, launching volley after volley of some strange red crystals. Ben easily avoided these attacks and switched gears from defense to offense, starting to charge at Hex. But before he could get too close, Hex leveled his staff and a piercing beam of light shot forth, blinding XLR8 and causing him to stumble across the floor sending him crashing into a wall.

As all this was happening, Gwen felt frustrated just standing on the sidelines, so she started scanning the area trying to find something she could use to help her Doofus. Not too long after, she found herself staring at two trash bins which glowed purple. When the light from Hex's staff went out, Gwen quickly called out, "Grandpa, grab a trash bin! We have to help Ben!" they both quickly grabbed one trash bin each and turned around to help.

Soon thereafter Hex raised his staff to try and deliver the finishing blow, but even before he could utter a word or move his staff, Gwen and Max threw their trash bins as hard as they could into the back of the self-proclaimed "master of his arts." This seemed to make the power flowing off him to dim a little. Gwen wondered at this, "Maybe it took concentration for him to call on such powers?"

Ben was able to take advantage of the moment and delivered a whirlwind of vicious blows to Hex, sending him flying into the display case with the Archamada and knocking the book out the case. The book flipped in the air then landed square into Hex's chest, knocking the strange stone out of his necklace and onto the floor, where it rolled over to XLR8, who picked it up and said, "Next time you want a book, go to a library." All Hex could do was glare at him from the floor before silently passing out.


	4. Chapter 3-Aftermath

*This is my first story/fan fic ever, so i am doing a lot of character and world building for my alternate universe. Give me any critiques or suggestion you have ill definitely thank you for them.

 **Aftermath**

A few moments after it had been confirmed that the situation inside had settled down SWAT teams and the cops poured in with the media following behind them. This placed Ben in a rare moment to gloat while still in alien form. He was really hamming it up until one of the reporters asked, "So, mister hero," the reporter said with a cocked eyebrow "Why did you let the Curator die and let the guards sustain severe injuries?"

XLR8 looked visibly shaken by the comment, but before he could reply the symbol in his chest started to blink and make the tell-tale beeping that time was up. Before anyone could catch him he quickly found an exit and escaped.

He later caught up with Gwen and Max as they were reaching the Rust Bucket.

after entering the rust bucket and going to his bunk bed Ben plopped down with a "humph" and said, "What was up with that guy!"

Grampa looked at him and Gwen swore that, for a brief second, she saw the shadow of sorrow and a visible twitch in his eyes and hands before taken on the jolly expression he almost always had.

"Its okay Ben, his question didn't even make it on the news i bet they're only talking about everyone you saved," Max said as he turned the TV to the local news channel and walk towards the driver seat. Ben took on a stoic posture as he grabbed his box of souvenirs from under the bunks.

He placed the stone he found after defeating Hex into it. that is when the news started up, and as Grandpa had said, they were only reporting on the heroic deeds Ben had done and the interviews of the victims. This seemed to cheer him up quite a bit now.

As the first segment droned on Gwen was feeling a little under appreciated at this point and with a 'humph' of her own said, "They could have at least given credit to me and Grampa!."

Ben squinted and eye at her and with dripping sarcasm replied, "Oh yes, let's not forget the great feat of throwing trash cans," Ben stuck his tongue out at Gwen.

"Shut up doofus!" Gwen said with a piercing stare.

Grampa Max looked at a rear-view mirror pointed into the cabin and said, "Don't worry Gwen I recognize you."

Gwen sighed, "Grampa, you're family, it doesn't count." she then frowned thinking to herself, "I couldn't do much there, but I did help Ben and it felt good, why is he being such a jerk!"

As if Ben had gained some form of telepathy or empathic powers, he gave her the most mature and stoic expression he ever had and said in what was almost a whisper, as if fearing the world would hear him doing something decent, "You did distract him for me and I may have… emphasis on the may part… have needed the help, so, here, take this as a token for you helping out." Ben picked up the stone from the box and put it in Gwen's hand.

Gwen knew how much pride Ben had and how much he like the spoils of his heroics, so this was a big thing for him. Ben looked away trying to be nonchalant. Gwen closed her fingers around the stone and a smile crossed her face. She then hugged her cousin saying, "Thanks doofus!"

Ben made a face of mock disgust replying, "Whatever, don't get your cooties on me, dweeb!"

Gwen instantly noticed something while she hugged Ben. The stone in her hand felt warm and that everything started to glow.

The glows were different hues depending on what she was looking at. Ben and Grandpa had a warm glow and she felt a wave of emotions from them, while other objects had their own softer glows, but they did not radiate any of the feelings she got from Ben or Grandpa.

The next thing Gwen noticed was Ben was struggling to push her away, but she was able to keep a firm hold on him nonetheless, as she felt nothing more than a slight bit of pressure, even though he seemed to be struggling a lot.

Gwen ruffled his hair and said, "You'll have to try harder than that doofus."

She pulled away from Ben and started to analyze the situation. Gwen could figure out a few things right away.

One, she was not seeing things. She didn't quite know what the colored outlines were, but they we real and they were differentiated and not uniformed. That had to mean something, and she would study it later.

Two, magic or something that looked a lot like it was real, and the stone in her hand had something to do with it.

* * *

Sometime later they had stopped at a RV parking spot behind a trucker stop. Grampa Max had told them they would park for the night and that he would go get drinks and snakes.

So, Gwen quickly found, turned on, and logged into her laptop to use a few standard apps as well as a program or two she had written herself with friends at school. They were designed to cross search and help with data mining for school projects, but they would work for this too.

"Thank you mom for putting me in all those extra advanced classes they are coming in handy now!" Gwen thought to herself.

After what had seemed like forever, despite what had been only a few moments, she received her first hits, though she was also distracted by a sudden extreme hunger pang and growl from her stomach.

So, Gwen quick got up and grabbed some strawberry pop tarts for a quick carb load then returned to her studies. soon as she got back into her own rhythms she was struck by the unnerving sensation of being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she quickly looked around with the top edge of a whole pop tart crumbling still between her lips strain against the sudden motion.

Ben was sitting there staring at her with a mixed look of intrigue like he was waiting for an announcement for Sumo Slammers, and a level of perplexion she only seen when he tried to follow her math homework.

She quickly finished the pop tart and asked, "What is it, goofball?"

Ben put a hand behind his head and scratched, tilting his head to one side as he said, "Ahh well for starters, you are eating pop tarts, you are too mature for pop tarts." he added air quotes at the end. Ben continued, "then there is the fact that you are typing a million words a minute, you're not being…. Well, you." Ben stared at her for a few more moments before he had to pretend to look else where.

The fact was not lost on her that he didn't call her dweeb, or the concern she could hear in his voice. Gwen smiled and thought, "Good, you are worrying about me for once!"

Though before Gwen could reply a sound caught her attention. She tilted her head working out that it had to be Grandpa Max coming back from the store and shuffling through his keys. She looked at Ben with a smile and said, "Oh, I am fine, plus Grandpa Max is back with the snacks and pop."

She quickly got up, ran to, and opened the door, but Gwen stopped mid step in surprise, for Grandpa Max was at least 20 or so meters away.

"Oh, hey Grandpa, do you need any help?" Gwen yelled while cupping her hands.

Max looked up from the keys on the ground and yelled with his usual chuckle, "Yes, thank you Gwen, I dropped my keys and I didn't want to drop the crickets."

Ben at this point came around the corner saying, "Grandpa how do you find all these weird ingredients when you're just going to a gas station?!"

as the two got closer Max smiled and laughed again, "They are not weird, I am just good and sniffing out the right stuff."

Gwen and Ben helped Grandpa get everything in, but Gwen was puzzled, "How did I hear him from that far out inside the Rust Bucket?" she thought to herself as she grabbed a pop and some…. roasted crickets. She quickly went back to her computer and started going over those data from earlier.

* * *

"Hey, the Charms of Bezel, I think that is what this might be", Gwen said holding the stone up in her hand. There were no pictures, but the article on her screen described a set of charms with different magical properties. They were Luck, Resurrection, Pyrokinesis, Telekinesis, Electrokinesis. She placed the stone down and then opened one of the soda Grandpa had bought for them, but before she could go further into her studies or take a drink she felt herself moving her hand by reflects just as Ben went to grab it. This caused him to skip on one foot and stumble into the padded seats face first.

"Hay let me see that cap real quick?" Ben said staring at her hand eye wide open.

Gwen raised an eyebrow, "What the…" she trailed off as she seen the golden sumo under the cap, "huh" was all she could say.

So, it turned out that the soda company had teamed up with Sumo Slammers and the faux avant-garde hotel "Hotel" to give a few lucky winners a VIP showing of the new Sumo Slammers game and an all-expense paid week at a suite in the Hotel.

"This must be because of the Charm of Luck!" exclaimed Gwen looking down at the charm she had placed on the desk while Ben was still trying to take the cap from her.

Ben then flashed a cat-like grin and said, "Well, since I gave you the 'Luck Charm' you should give me the bottle cap."

Gwen narrowed a gaze at him, "That is not how it works, Doofus. Plus it says the trip and VIP showings is for up-to four people per winning cap. It's not like you wouldn't be coming with me." She rolled the cap along her fingers and flipped the cap into the air and before Ben could grab it she snatched it. "Now, I am going to go talk about this with Grampa, so be a nice cousin and clean up the cabin... please?" she smiled at him then added, "It's the least you could do for the person taking you to play the newest Sumo Slammers game."

As Gwen closed the laptop she playfully stuck her tongue out at Ben and started her walk towards the front of the RV to discuss the prize with Grampa Max. Unbeknownst to her though a newly found hit on her previous search had pop up. "The Keystone of Bezel" with a picture that match the stone in her hand perfectly, had shown clearly before the program shut down with the rest of the computer.

After a while of persuasion Grandpa Max finally agreed saying, "Okay okay, it's a good thing we have a week to get there. Plus, there is a street festival along the way I was planning on taking you kids to anyway."


	5. Chapter 4-Who are you Lucky girl?

*** this is a rather large chapter for me. I hope its not to long enjoy  
**

 **Who are you….lucky girl?**

Gwen had spent some time figuring out how to 'turn off' and 'on' her new ability to see auras which she had found out was what the colors she had been seeing were called. This seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg to other magic related thing she had started studying before they arrived in the town of Crescent city.

Gwen was amazed at the massive events going on. All Grandpa had said was that they were going to a street festival. she would never of thought that by street he meant the whole city! People were everywhere in mass and in elaborate cloth and costumes. There were street vendors selling everything from food and clothing to toys and gadgets.

While they walk down one such street filled with said vendors' the could see shops for costumes that looked like ghost and ghouls, as well as vendors with sugar candies in all shapes and size including a giant sugar crystal skull there was also a ton of toys and games to be seen.

Ben and Grandpa quickly became engrossed in an interesting looking game of chance. It was a large canvas game board covered in symbols including a skull wearing a top hat. The game was played with sticks, odd shaped dice, a spinning top, and small smooth odd shaped black stones.

This had only held Gwen's attention for so long before she felt drawn to a different stand with costumes. As she looked through some garments she was almost scared out of her wits when a man's voice from behind her called out in a husky gravelly voice, "petite-fille, I may have what you seek."

Gwen turned slowly around and found herself staring at a stall she could have sworn was not there mere moments before resting between two no longer maned stalls. She felt a chili run down her back and this time she was ready to bolt at any movement. There standing tall as the world was man with skull visage painted face. The thought of hex crossed her mind though this man was wearing a totally different getup. He had a tall black stove piper's top hat adorn with a silver St. Michael cross and a large plum father. the hat sat crocked on his head framing his gaunt face, and shockingly he also sported a large boa. the boa seemed content to coil around the mans neck. As for his other attire he wore a 3 button button-up open tailed black suit jack, with a red vest underneath. Another twinge of familiarity with hex she notices was a staff that rested in in the crock of his arm. though this one had what looked to be a shrunken head at its top.

This was almost too much for Gwen when suddenly her eyes grow larger, for every time he breathed smoke seemed to bellow from between his teeth and lips. She was about to run when the tall man smiled and brought a lit cigar from out of nowhere to his mouth.

"not a local, I can tell petite-fille; the air of the city does not move to your beat" the tall man said with a chuckle. At this point Gwen was 4 or 5 steps removed from the light of her comfort zone, so Gwen started to back up. The man looked surprised and hurt or at least fanning hurt and spoke, "no wait wait my fille" he clapped his hands together and an assortment of Halloween, Christmas, and yard light turned on filling the dark stall with a gaudy show of miss-matched colored lights.

The tall man then spoke gently, "I know I know I am told I am naturally scary," he gave a large grin with teeth stained almost pure black and moved his cigar from one side of mouth to the other.

he put the cigar away and randomly while still smiling he stated, "I just love this thing." He clapped his hand a few times singing the "clap on, clap off" jingle. This made Gwen strangle come down.

Gwen eyed the product behind him there was an array of books, bags, candles and costumes. One thing immediately stuck out, a full set costume.

It was a very dark almost black-purple costume set having a short-sleeved acrobat top, with matching tall ankle cut acrobat tights, tied together with light purple-pink sash, gloves, and cat mask designed in alternating Black-purple and purple-pink pattern.

For some reason Gwen felt that she needed this as much as she needed to breath. Suddenly, and unprovoked by her, the costume started to glow intensely purple before fading away.

Gwen looked at the tall man and asked, "sir, I don't have a large allowance, but I am interested in this piece."

The tall man smiled more broadly almost unnaturally and said, "petite-fille, you are polite, you are a new customer, and you are new face to me! we are celebrating the thinning of the Vail tonight, the Loa are all happy, so for you it is free."

Gwen gave him an unconvinced look.

He chuckled so hard his hat threatened to fall off his head, "Now, fille don't go insulting me by refusing a gift, just take it and remember the Tall Man." He took the costume from the display and presented it to her

Gwen was hesitant at first, but then reach out and grab it from the strange man saying, "thank you sir,..by the way what is your name?"

The man smiled and pointed a boney finger up at a sign hanging overhead.

Gwen was already too drained to be shocked yet again saying cautiously, "the Tall Man?" He nodded stroking the boa as it continued to coil around him moving from his neck to his arm. He then looked at her and more seriously said, "Now, go Gwen I am sure Ben and Max are waiting for you!"

Gwen turned to go, but only made it a few steps before it hit her, "When did I tell him mine or their names?"

she turned around but what she found would haunt her for years to come. The space between the stalls had shortened and the Gaudy stall with the Tall Man was no longer there instead a sign saying, 'future attraction Zombozo traveling circus' was in its place.

Though Gwen was more than spoked, she couldn't force herself to get rid of the 'Gift' instead she brought it with her while she looked to catch up with Grampa and the doofus.

* * *

Grampa and Ben were walking her direction when she finally spotted them. They were talking to themselves and Ben was robbing the back of his head like he did when he was lost in thought.

Gwen could hear him saying over the crowd," it feels like we were playing that for more than an hour."

Grampa Max chuckled, "It's a good thing you started worrying about your cousin"

as soon as Ben seen Gwen he flushed and look away trying to whisper," I don't know what you are talking about."

Gwen rushed up smiling, "Hay Grampa did you enjoy the game?" she asked while throwing an arm around Ben saying, "hey doofus."

Ben pushed her away with a humph, "what are you doing Dweeb trying to get your germs on me!"

Gwen smiled, "nothing you can say can spoil my current mood doofus." Grampa Max smiled at the two of them then cocked his head slightly asking, "what is that Gwen?" pointing at the bundle in her hands.

She held the smile she no longer felt while replying, "It's a costume I picked up while you two were playing." For some reason Gwen did not want to tell them that story.

Ben looked at her with a suspicions glint in his eyes, but then shrug. Gwen thought this was weird, he never gave up that easy. it did look like he wanted to say something, but instead he looked down at his closed right hand. Sheepish he looked back up to stare into her eyes. his cheeks quickly flushed and he said in a slightly high pitch tone, "I won this for you Gwen." Ben held up a simple braided metal necklaces with a round clasping fixture. Grampa smiled and laughed saying, " Ben is being modest, he didn't just win that! he fought tooth and nail for it, the man said it's real silver to boot." Ben turned his face away as the flush turned deep red and said, "Did not!"

She found that fixture could perfectly fit the Bezel charm, so she placed it in and slipped the necklaces on. she knew she must of had the stupidest grin on her face at that moment, but she didn't care. Gwen started to think of a way to thank him when they heard the screech of megaphone over the sounds of the festival. an authoritative and feminine voice called out, "this is Sheriff Bellguard, there are three heavily armed and dangerous suspect fleeing from a bank robbery. If you see any armed men get to a safe place do not get in their way or the way of any uniformed officers", this was repeated several times.

As, if the universe was listening kismet placed those very armed men in the path of Ben and Gwen.

* * *

The three heavily armed men in tactical gear each carrying one of three silver briefcases with what looked like a heraldry of a kite shield that was checkered Tyrian purple and gold with black crossbones under the kite ran by.

Gwen heard the sudden intake of air from Grandpa Max and when she looked at him he was tenser than she had ever seen before with hands shaking and clenched in fists.

Before she could ask grandpa, what was going on they heard the sound of automatic rifle fire and people screaming.

Ben gave the smile he always wore before doing something heroic and/or reckless, and yelled, "this is a job for four arms.'' Slamming his watch, he was surrounded by a glow, but instead of a giant four-armed red warrior he was grey and just a few inches tall.

In a squeaky whiny voice Ben exclaimed, "no not Grey Matter!"

Gwen after some quick thinking ran over scooped him up placing him on her shoulder while moving towards the sound of the gun fire. Grey Matter held on tightly to her as Gwen ran through the crowds, jumping over obstacle, barely dodge random people who were running about.

Through Gwen's eyes she had seen all these obstacles and people highlighted in purple auras. She also found herself able to will her body to move in ways she thought impossible before gaining the charm.

Ben as Grey Matter thought out loud, "it's lucky we have the luck charm" he then looked at himself, Gwen, and then at the bundle still held tightly in her arms. squinted his eyes and quickly formulated a plan he squeaked out, "Gwen quickly put on your mask, you don't want people taking pictures of you with an alien on your shoulder!"

Gwen had to admit this was a good idea and placed the mask on her face in a semi fluid motion while keeping the rest of the costume under her arms, jumping over a trash can, and trying to not knock off Grey Matter. As, soon as she placed on the mask she felt some strange power envelope her.

Grey Matter stared at her with a squint and committed, "I don't know much about magic, but if it was not for the fact I know I was on my cousin shoulder I wouldn't know who you are, and I think I wouldn't remember seeing you with that mask on."

Grey Matter then thought out loud, "you need an alt ego" using his heightened intelligence he come up with a name on the fly, "how about lucky girl?"

Gwen smiles and replied, "I like it!"

* * *

They finally caught up with the armed men, when, suddenly Gwen screamed covering her eyes as the three briefcases were glowing so brightly they were like miniature suns.

She quickly, turned off her aura reading ability. Grey Matter choose that moment to yell in his high-pitched squeak," Hurry and dodge," while pulling hard on her left ear. This caused her to fall just as bullets flew over her head. Through teary eyes and just a little bit of angry over the ear pulling she thanked Grey Matter for his quick thinking.

"hay kid and her pet stop following us ill not think twice about shooting you and leaving you in the gutter!" He then unloaded more bullets towards them. They could hear the whimper of someone that had been shot.

Gwen gritted her teeth and almost growled, "we need to get these guys!"

Grey Matter took in the scene and thought of Lucky girl's skills saying," I have a plan, but you'll have to agree to a lot before we go forward."

Gwen turned a corner, so that they were safe from gun fire while still able to see which way they were fleeing. She looked over her shoulder at Grey Matter as he went over the plan.

* * *

The three heavily armed robbers ran down a few empty alleys being tired of running through groups of people. they were on a time table after all. After, running down one relatively thin alley they were forced to move in a formation of 2 and 1. This was the moment the two would-be heroes were waiting for, from above the street a now fully costumed lucky girl descended jumping from wall to wall until she landed a kick against the lone man's back, a burst of air exploding out of his mouth causing his two cohorts to turn around.

The robber who was hit in the back growled recovering from the hit balled his fist. He turned and tried to deliver a vicious spinning back fist to whomever had just struck him, but his arm harmlessly flew over Lucky girls head. He managed to snarl out, "I'll kill you whoever you are!" and in one fluid motion pulled a short oddly edge strait blade from his belt while throwing a kick out at his assailant.

Gwen easily dodge but realized a little too late he was expecting that and he hit her with a cross from his non-bladed fist.

with a nasty smile and glare to match he hissed,"Now girl I am not monster if you stay down and nurse that wound and I'll let you live."

Gwen hopped up recovering from the blow faster then she thought and laughed in a challenging reply, "ha you hit like a boy!"

this taunt worked, though before he could do anything in reply, they both tensed at the sound of a cocking gun coming from behind the angered man. That is when a bullet ricochet off a wall to the side of both Gwen and her opponent sending brick dust everywhere. One of the two other men had pulled out his handgun but before he could fire the other man had quickly knocked it up and away from their teammate currently engaged in combat. This man exclaiming, "Fool, you could have hit bishop, rook!"

Gwen not used to non-dojo fighting had let all of this distract her and suffered a combo of crosses and jab to her face. Though this jarred her she was able to bring her arm up and blocked the next blow just barely. the blow had managed to forced her to stumble back. Gwen's arm hurt more than she was prepared for. This definitely was not like sparing at her dojo or with Ben, she knew she could not keep treating this like a match.

The man now identified as Bishop in shock exclaimed, "what are you, what is the suit made of!"

This is when Gwen realized that the last blow she had blocked had been with the men extend wrist bearing the strange blade. Gwen took a moment to look at her arm and found that the suit and more importantly her arm was still intact. She quickly gathering herself and prepared to start the fight once more. Before, she could though Gwen felt movement against her from the back of her sash. That's when she remembered Ben as Grey Matter was hiding there he quickly scampered up her back and in a high pitch whispered in her ear, "We need to do it now! I am going to transform back any moment, remember to keep running and cover your ears as best as possible"

Gwen was exhilarated now, so she waited for 'bishop' to throw another attack. It soon came, but instead of blocking she dropped low adapting a modified horse stance then sweeped the back of the man's knee with her leg it was just enough to cause him to drop to one bent outstretched leg. Gwen used this leg, to spring up, and to jumped off of, gaining enough height and momentum to flip over his shoulder kicking his allies both in the head it didn't have the full effect but it did disorientated them enough to giving Bishop time to recover.

Bishop stood up and thought, "there would be no more holding back," he was just going to kill her. He turned around and was about to start the pursuit, but he felt two tugs on his chest. He looked down surprise because there was a strange grey creature on his tactical vest, but before he could recover the anger on his face evaporated and turned white with horror. The little monster was holding two pins the worst thought came to the forefront, "this thing just pulled the pins on my Mk.2 grenades." Bishops screams at the creature which looked up with a smile and Bishops blood ran cold in his veins.

Grey Matter leaped behind Bishop whistling as loud as he could. the other two would-be thugs gaining most of their wits unfortunately and looked up. They knew something was wrong right away from the expression on their comrades faces. They were not able to see for long though, as instead of the mk.2s going off the two M84 flashbang went off moments apart knocking Bishop out, but only disorientating the others. The one designated as Rook puked while the other sat holding his head.

Mere seconds later there was a red flash as Ben transformed back. Gwen took that as her que to come back around the corner. She was smiling because it seemed the plan had worked! She didn't smile for long once she seen Ben.

It turned out Ben was also affected by the Flash bangs as well. worry chilled Gwen to her stomach, she ran over and started rubbing his back asking if he was okay. Ben shook his head trying to try to gain some of his senses back, but only managed to whimper out, "take care of the bad guys and tie them up."

Gwen quickly ran over and delivered knockout blows against both of the still conscious, but dazed assailants. Looking around she was able to find some discarded bike chains to use as makeshift ropes. as she started to try and failed to tie them up, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. That is when a strange word seemed to flout midair before her. Gwen paused for only a second for some reason she found herself compelled to say it out loud, " _carcer_ " when she did the chains glowed and became solid metal shackles. She was surprised, but with everything that had been happening the last few weeks she was not as shaken as she could have been. At any rate she didn't have much time to think about it. she shackled the robbers and disarmed them. from behind her she heard fresh moaning coming from Ben.

Gwen ran over to his side,knelt down, and gently placed Ben's head onto her lap. she started robbing his back again. Ben mumbled, "I should have covered my head more." Gwen shut her eyes hard with moisture trailing down her cheeks, she whispered gently, "I wish I could make you feel better," as she said those words the insides of her eyelids flashed purple as well as the hand on Ben's back started to become warm.

This amazingly seemed to help him, because soon after he stopped moaning. Ben rolled over and finally opened his eyes. Gwen felt him moving as his hand reach up to rest on her face. Gwen smiled and leaned into the hand finally opening her eyes. she found Ben looking up at her with a strange expression, but he quickly replaced it with a charming smiled saying, "I don't know who you are, but you have pretty eyes."

Gwen in surprise cocked an eyebrow and said with relief, "okay, doofus nice try."

Ben looked confused replying, "huh?!, that something my Dweeb would say."

Gwen was taken aback saying, "What do you mean 'your' Dweeb?"

Ben in turn said, "Oh yeah you wouldn't know, that is what I call my cousin Gwen."

This is when Gwen remembered what Grey Matter had said and point at herself asking, "who do you think I am?"

Ben shrugged, stating, "I don't know, but you are pretty…, for a girl I mean" he nervously robbed the top of his head and blushed.

Gwen blushed and calmly told him, "Ben you are probably going to regret saying that."

Ben smiled at this and said, "I may have never said that about anyone before, but I pretty much say what I mean!"

At that Gwen facepalmed herself, she couldn't take it anymore and took off the lucky girl mask.

Ben blinked in confusion, and asked even more confused, "where did that pret….. were did that girl go?"

Gwen grabbed the bridge of her nose, "Doofus it was me the whole time!"

Ben eyes were as wide as could be. Then he stumble over himself trying to scramble to his feet while exclaiming, "All I see is a dweeb!"

Gwen chuckled and said with a slap to his arm, "Your dweeb". She liked the sound of that.

"Weird, Ben didn't even remember seeing me putting the mask on. I think the mask has some kind of magical effect on other people's' minds, it numbs their perception, that's the only way to explain this," Gwen thought.

Ben dragged his hand across his face, "Okay let's forget about this for now. What are we going to do about those guys?" Ben gestured with his hands at the three now tied up robbers.

* * *

But before there could be an answer to that question a bright light suddenly filled the ally. From the light came a tall athletic woman with fiery red hair peeking out from under a sheriff's hat. She looked every bit the part of a sheriff, though she had a strange silver dagger in her left hand and was wearing a glove only on the right. when she seen that the robbers were tied up and two kids standing over them she put the dagger away somehow up her sleeve, though not before Gwen had seen that it was covered in strange symbols.

"I am Sheriff Bellguard" she said with a smile and asked, "what happened here?" Gwen quickly came up with a story that was mostly the truth a hero team 'Grey Matter' and 'lucky girl' had come through and stopped the thugs while they watch as bystanders. Bellguard looked around and spotted the briefcases. She quickly ran over and checked them saying, "good it's all here."

Ben and Gwen walked over to see what was so important in one case there was a weird stone mask, in another there was a book with glowing ruins, and the last a hilt to a sword. Bellguard look up with an almost unnaturally beautiful smile, and stood up enough to envelop them both in an embrace

Gwen found herself blushing at Bellguard's contact when she looked over at Ben she could see he was flushed as well.

Sheriff Bellguard then pulled away and started removing the glove from her right hand. As soon as the glove was removed Ben and Gwen felt shocked as her right hand and maybe even her arm was made of the same sliver metal as her dagger and covered in the same strange symbols that briefly glowed yellow-orange as she removed the glove.

Bellguard suddenly but gently place two fingers against both Ben and Gwen's forehead sayings, "sleep and forget," though not before Gwen swore she seen the shadow of wispy wing on Bellguard's shadow across the back of the ally.


	6. Chapter 5-What the!

*light explicit activity warning

* * *

 **What the?!**

Gwen started to wake up though she was groggy and a little bit confused. she couldn't remember falling asleep. In fact, the last memory she had was Ben freaking out after realizing the girl he had just called pretty was her! She felt herself smiling at that. Now, she needed to get up, though she tried to force her eyes open it was to no avail, they were so heavy. After, a few more attempts just to be stung, by the sunlight come through what had looked like a window she chose to leave them closed.

Gwen found herself pulled mentally two ways. She needed to figure out what was going on, but she was unfathomably tired. After, a few internal arguments with herself, she came up with the idea that she would handle the problem after she rest for just a few moments. Even with this she felt I little out of place, there was a weird contentedness at just laying there. She was warm, comfortable, and strangely enough…she felt loved.

"Where are these feeling coming from?" she thought to herself

Gwen mentally doubled down on just staying there, but as time went on a nagging feeling was bugging her. Her breathing was different than normal, there was a heaviness to the rhythmic motion of her chest rising and falling. Still I bit groggy she started sliding her hand that was resting on her stomach up. Already she was a little confused was she this toned before? That question end as she reached her chest! Well now she could feel herself waking up, she had a chest! She had recently just started budding, but this was a full-sized chest! She knew they were hers she was getting sensory input from HER chest and hand. She quickly opened her eyes though the sunlight disorientated her.

Gwen blinked moisture from her eyes and though still lethargic tried to look down to her hand laying on her chest. Before she could she was startled to feel something sliding along her waist and wrapping around her hip. She heard herself make a loud "eep" as what she figured was a hand pulled her into a warm body she had not noticed was resting behind her. She wanted to turn around or maybe jump out of bed, but she was too distracted. Her hand was larger and manicured with purple and pink nail polish and were cupping a chest with more than a handful of breast. She stared at their curvature as well as the pink erect nipples, "what the hell is going on!" she again "eeped" as the hand at her waist lazy slide to her abdomen and started to gently paw at her stomach.

Gwen turned her head to see a familiar, but still unknown face. The face brought her comfort for no reason she could think of. It was handsome and mature with short brown hair and matching with a close shaved goatee she felt the urge to kiss this face. This was so confusing she was so lost at everything and felt moisture rolling down her cheeks.

Her body was hers but not hers this man was unknown to her, but she knew him as she knew her own heartbeat. Gwen found herself rolling over to face him batter. That is when she felt his hand slide as she rolled over. the hand slid down from her back sending a shiver along her spine as it did, until it found and cupped her ass as if it was the natural thing to do! She didn't "eep", but instead she studied him he was familiar, but her mind was still foggy and reeling from all the new stimuli.

Gwen could tell that if they were standing he would be taller than her. He was also well mucled with a light tan. She found herself adjusting her position so her left leg slipped over the right of his. Gwen did this so she could be closer to him altho she did know where that desire came from. Her hand moved to his stomach where she was greeted by a well-developed six pack for no apparent reason this brought a smirk to her face. She started to slide her hand up his body feeling its definition, for some reason she felt flushed at just feeling this mans body. there was a heat now radiating with in her and she could feel her chest tightening a little.

"I do not know who you are, but I love you more than my own life" Gwen thought to herself with full tears now running down her cheek from the confusing emotion and the whole ordeal.

Gwen's hand kept moving up and over muscles, his breathing was regular at first, but the more she touched him the more labored it became matching her own almost frantic breathing. As her hand race over his chest she felt a powerful beating radiating from his heart that matched the one drumming in her own chest.

Gwen traced his neck with her index finger until her hand rested on his face. That is when she noticed a gold band on her ring finger it was simple but respectful in design and it had eloquent scrolled writing on it. She was able to make out some of the words, "you are forever mine and I yours my dwe…." Her heart at this skip a few beats. She felt more tears rolling down her face now, but what or who's emotion these were, were beyond her. That was until his emerald eyes opened, and he smiled at her. His hand slide from its place on her buttocks all the way to her face.

Gwen was yet again overwhelmed as she felt herself unintentionally nuzzling the hand as it reaches her left cheek. She felt his thumb brushed the tears away and heard him say, "what is it my one and only?" his voice was so familiar, but she couldn't place it…though she didn't care anymore because the love she felt in every syllable was overflowing.

That was it! Gwen could not control herself anymore she felt her head moving towards him and her hand sliding to his neck. she needed to kiss him if she didn't her heart would surly stop beating. As she grew mere moments away from touching her lips to his she was struck like a lightning bolt, and she whispered, "you are forever mine and I yours my dweeb…Ben!"

something in the background choose that moment to chime in saying, "it is now, 8:30 am December 27,2023."

Ben's smile grew as his head tilted to whatever had said that. Ben then claimed the initiative lost to Gwen, kissing her. Gwen was still in shock at the revelation though her body decided of its own volition to lean into the kiss as ben's arms pulled her into an embrace. Ben pulled back a little, but he kept his forehead and nose pressed to hers saying "I'll take that as our early birthday present Gwendolyn," he then kissed her but with far more passion this time as he rolled her over.

All Gwen could think was," what the!?" before her consciousness begin to fade again.

* * *

* hope you enjoy this chapter. thank you for all the review so far!


	7. Chapter 6-Do you remember

**Do you remember**

Gwen woke up shooting upward so fast she felt dizzy, and regretted it. Her face also was damp and her eyes were a little sore, "Have I been crying?" she thought to herself.

Gwen shook her head trying to wake up, "What happened?" she looked confused by the surroundings, and could hear and see Ben snoring on a wooden bench across from her. She looked down to see she was also on a bench and was partially covered in a jacket that read Crescent City Sheriff's Department.

Her brows furrowed and she thought, "What happened? Last thing I remember was…. Ben calling me pretty after we beat those thugs," unconsciously she brought her hand up to her lips. They kind of tingled and her left cheek had a lingering warmth to it.

In the background she heard Grampa Max saying, "What do you mean you don't have a sheriff named Bellguard?"

Another male voice said in reply, "Sir that is the truth our sheriff is named Eddy and HE is an overweight slave driver, not this hottie that has been described to us."

An angry but playfully voice yelled over him from somewhere else, "Hey, watch it with the overweight comment, Roger! You are no swimsuit model yourself!"

Gwen decided this was a good time as any to check to see if Ben was okay. She pushed herself up and off the bench carefully folding the jacket and placing it neatly on the bench she had been sitting on. She slowly walked over to Ben filling a bit dizzy still, but she was able to make it to him.

Gwen approached Ben and was about to just shake him awake, when she found herself instead kneeling down and pressing her forehead to his and whispered, "Wake up, Benjamin."

Ben's eyes snapped open and at first he looked confused, then he flushed and pushed her way, "I said to forget about it!"

Gwen eyes fluttered a bit then her face turn bright red and she exclaimed, "OH! I didn't mean to do that!" for some reason she was more upset about saying that than the actual action.

Embarrassed, Gwen decided to just ask, "What is the last thing you remember?"

Ben snorted and said, "Calling you the dweeb of dweebs," he stuck out his tongue and crossed his arm.

Gwen snorted back, "No, doofus, this is serious. Do you remember getting here?"

Ben, with his arms still crossed and still blushing, closed his eyes in deep concentration after a moment while mumbling through a whisper and said, "No, I Just kind of remember calling you pretty by mistake."

Gwen ruffled his hair, "we need to find out what is going on here," she grabbed his hand and started walking towards the voices.

Grampa Max, in a loud but reassuring voice, boomed , "Thank goodness you kids are awake!" he noticed they were both flushed as he walked over to them, "Are you two okay?" before they could respond, Grampa Max scooped them both up into a bear hug.

Gwen, unconsciously but gently, squeezed Ben's hand before letting go against the overwhelming hug from the towering figure that was their grandfather. At the same time both Ben and Gwen replied, "Yes, Grampa!" and laughed together.

This is when a large pale portly man, wearing a sheriff uniform as well as sunglasses indoors strolled up, "Now that you are awake, maybe you can answer some questions on what you were doing in that alley and why a fake deputy gave you to a responding police officer at a shooting location" the man who must have been Eddy from earlier gave a slight sinister smile and added, "And why he told us a FAKE Sheriff going by…" he pulled out a notepad for flair and then continued, "... Bellguard ... wanted us to find a Max Tennyson to tell him to come for you two"

 _in the background a TV set to some local news station could be heard saying, "due to the recent events during the Fat Tuesday celebration, we, the city of Crescent, have issued bonds to upgrade all the police stations and the sheriff department of Crescent City with new directed energy weapons from Fool's manufacturing replacing all the current ballistic weapons"_

Ben and Gwen looked at each other and shrugged with Gwen saying, "I only know the name Bellguard from the megaphone from earlier today, sheriff Eddy…sir"

That is when Eddy looked down at his uniform which strained at his bulk to see if he was wearing his name tag, that he often forgets, and, not seeing it there, lifted his sunglasses up to squint towards Gwen, "How did you know my name, hmm?" his belly bounced forward in great ripples and he snorted again, this time louder and flashing bloodshot eyes, "HMMM?"

Gwen carefully and politely replied, "I overheard the conversation with my grandpa from a few moments ago, sir."

Eddy's' head shot back looking towards the room and said, "From all the way back in the observation area!"

Gwen nodded that this was correct, and Eddy said while shaking his head, "Damn girl, you might have a future as an informant, or maybe a spook."

After some time, Eddy took all their statements and contact information, asked them not to leave town for 48 hours, and handed over personal possessions such as the mask to Gwen's suit. He eventually let them go after a few more questions.

After they left the station and were out of earshot, Grampa asked, "So, what really happened?"

Gwen and Ben retold their story though Ben seemed to still have trouble associating her with the girl in the mask. Grampa absentmindedly stroked his chin saying, "One time when I was doing a job in Ireland, I heard a tale of a burglar having made a deal with the wee people and getting a magic totem that was enchanted with what they called a glamour. This made people forget who the burglars was and no one could correctly recall the person's face or any other detail. I wonder if this is similar?" he stretched and then said, "Okay, let get these old bones back to the Rust Bucket and we will see about rounding up some grub."

When they got back to the Rust Bucket Gwen took her mask out of the evidence bag as well as her street clothes. She then placed the cloths next to her laptop while walking purposefully to the broom closet where she did a little twirl with the mask in her hand while in front of a wall mirror inside. Gwen thought to herself, "So, it's only the mask that makes people forget" she blushed, remembering she had just walked through town in broad daylight in this getup. It was all very form fitting, yet didn't feel like it was there. It felt more like it was a part of her, so she hadn't even given it a second thought.

While she studied herself in the mirror she caught Ben staring at her! He was trying to be sneaky about it too, only looking at her from the corners of his eyes while pretending to work on the Omnitrix...

Gwen started to turn around and was about to yell at the doofus before she suddenly felt as if the floor under her disappeared.

* * *

*I hope you all are still enjoying the story. I am currently experimenting on something to improve my writing and story telling.

** I am also working on outlines for another story :)

*** If you still have not read any of csgt stories, I highly suggest to you to check them out!


	8. Chapter 6 & 7- Part two & Potential

**Please Enjoy and let me know your thoughts thank you.**

* * *

 **Part 2 Do You Remember**

Gwen found herself in a strange unearthly position. For one thing, everything in the Rustbucket seemed shorter, and another thing, she couldn't control her body. She was only able to take in sensory information. She seemed able to look around from the perspective of what she thought were her eyes since she could see her nose and a loose strand of hair.

Her body just did things on its own. It was very unnerving feeling having her body move, but not being the source of those commands. She walked up to the now closed broom closet. " _Wait when did I close this,_ " she thought. When it opened, she was shocked to her core. She was looking at her own face, but it was different, older, far less childish. She had fussed over that very thing internally when she had to take one of the advance classes her mom signed her up for.

Gwen had been one of the only 10-year-olds in one such class and felt out of place. One of the older girls had teased her thinking Gwen was older and underdeveloped. She quickly chastised herself for getting lost in this particular memory. She needed to figure out what was going on.

Gwen switched to paying more attention to what was right in front of her. The first thing she noted was her hair seem longer in the front and slightly shorter in the back compared to the way she wore it now. There were also the changes to her complexion. It was just slightly tanner than normal, but it gave her a 'I go to the beach sometimes look' instead of the, 'I get just enough sunlight look' she had right now, or was it then? _"This is really confusing_ " she grumbled to herself.

Gwen felt an odd and familiar confusion but continued at the task right in front of her. She also noticed her eyebrows were darker, but thinner as well. They had an eloquent arch that followed the slight curve of her eyes. That was something she had noticed in older girls.

Her nose was still slightly upturned but not as childish as she thought of her nose now. Her nose was slightly pinched which had the effect of giving it more definition. She continued to look down and Gwen wanted to gasp as she noticed her lips. They were much fuller and sported a slightly up turn at the corners as if saying, "Yeah, I know I got it!" They seemed glistened with a light pink from some lip gloss.

" _I am wearing makeup!_ " she exclaimed to herself.

The smile led her eyes back up and to her cheeks, which were higher, giving her a cheerful inviting expression. This was accentuated by her now less wide-set eyes. Gwen wished she could squint. She swore her emerald eyes sparkled in contrast to the some dark mascara she had on. This gave her an almost cat-like quality.

Gwen mentally shook herself. " _Why did I get engrossed in my own face!_ " after scolding herself she took in more details.

She was wearing what looked like a full body suit, but It wasn't the one she had now, not the Lucky Girl costume.

Around her neck was what she at first thought to be a light scion blue muffler, but when her body did a slight turn she saw that it was part of some kind of hooded twin tail cap. It was like something out of a ninja game. As she pondered this her body seemed to be testing something under the hood and brought some cloth up and over her nose. It was dark sea blue and made of what looked like to be the same material as her shirt. This reminded her of a ski mask she once had to wear.

" _Definitely a ninja_ ," she thought to herself with a chuckle, _"Ben would love the ninja vibe."_

She brought the hood up and over her head and it came to a point above her eyes giving it a quizzical look. Again, the Gwen in control of the body turned her head left and right as if to exam the effect of the hood and then pulled it off.

Gwen then felt more than heard herself saying, "I like this new costume! I'm glad Grandma Verdona talked me into crafting my own."

" _Who am I talking to, and what was that about Grandma Verdona? I haven't seen her since my 8th birthday party, when mother shooed her away_."

Her head looked down and now she could see the rest of herself in more detail… she was surprised to see that she had a chest!

" _I feel like this is not the first time I've been surprised by this_ " she thought and wished she could have furrowed her brows. Her chest was large enough that she knew she couldn't cup them in one hand and they were accented by the close-fitting long t-shirt that was pushing them up and forward.

" _Damn, those would shut Stacy up back at school. Barely having a chest herself, but still calling me washboard Tennyson!_ ", she grumbled with a ' _grr_ '.

The shirt had the same scheme as her favorite shirt. The top was an almost black-blue shade, but only for the tops of her shoulder and arms. The rest from her chest to her waist was dark sea blue.

" _Huh, is that what you called an hourglass figure?_ " she thought as she noticed the obvious curvature leading to her hips. From her hips hung a louse scion blue double belt with her favorite cat symbol as a belt buckle.

" _Does blue become my favorite color?_ " Gwen asked herself.

Under the belt was a pair of super tight blue-black pants. She had told herself before that she would never wear super tight clothes because she thought it made girls look slutty, but she had to admit she looked good in them.

The other her did a little swirl and an embarrassing 'blowing a kiss' pose and Gwen internally cringed, but now she could see who she was talking to. It was Ben… Well it was Grey Matter making what looked like schematics of some kind. Gwen wanted to frown thinking, " _I would like to of seen Ben instead,_ " she freaked out at that idea and pointedly asked, " _Why do I want to see the doofus_?"

Yet again, she felt rather than heard the other Gwen saying, "See, I knew it was a good idea to have Grey Matter work at trying to solve the locks on the Omnitrix."

At that moment Gwen's stomach churned as she once again felt the floor slipping away she found that she was back to where she had started as if no time had passed.

Ben was quick to turn his gaze away from her and look down at the watch as Gwen's momentum turned her to face him. Instead of yelling at him like she had planned to, she instead asked, "Hey, Ben, have you ever thought of using Grey Matter to make plans on how to mess with the Omnitrix?"

 **Potential**

Ben's head shot back in surprise, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Gwen smirked at this and thought, " _Yeah, he was definitely not thinking about the Omnitrix_."

Gwen walked over to Ben and looked at the Omnitrix, "The other day, when you were Grey Matter, you were able to discern things that you as Ben couldn't put together, right?"

Ben raised an eyebrow and replied, "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Gwen smiled and thought, " _Well, let's put this vision I had to the test._ "

She then looked at him and said, "So, doofus, why not put Grey Matter's intelligence to good use? Use him to help you figure out the secrets of the Omnitrix." She frowned and continued, "It might be safer for you in the long run if you can figure out its functions instead of just randomly messing with it."

She felt her heart constrict and her mood becoming darker, " _If anything happens to you because of that watch I would hunt down whomever sent it to earth and…_ "

Gwen shook her head to break out of that thought. Unbeknownst to her, this unconsciously caused a hot magical wind to flow from her that ruffled Ben's hair.

Ben stared up at her confused, "But I can't mess with the omnitrix when I am Grey Matter."

Gwen sighed, "No, but as Grey Matter you can strategize, formulate ideas, and plan for the future."

Ben shrugged and jumped head first into the idea, dialing up Grey Matter and slamming the appropriate symbol on the watch.

Grey Matter jumped from the seat onto the table, finding a spot on the edge while taking up the thinking man pose.

After a few moments of nothing he jumped up throwing one little grey finger into the air and stated in his high pitch squeaky voice, "Yes, this may work!"

He looked at Gwen and asked with a smile, "May I use your computation machine?"

"Pff, sure, but first I'll make you a guest account," Gwen replied.

Grey Matter wiggled his eye ridges and said, "What? Don't want me reading your diary?"

Gwen squinted her eyes at him. Her pupils focused on Grey Matters very being. One of her cheek muscles twitched uncontrollably and he noticed her hands clenching. All of Gwen's body language and expression was dripping with venom and the dooming he would feel from such an action.

This quickly shut the little genius right up.

* * *

After a few changes and down time for the watch to 'recharge' - or whatever it did when not available - Grey Matter was able to learn programming skills that far surpassed Gwen's or even her Computer Science and Programming teacher's, or at least that's what she felt while observing him.

He had made a few programs and a list of to dos for Ben when he was not Grey Matter.

While he was going over the To Do's, Grey Matter said out of nowhere, "You know, Gwendolyn, you have a beautiful mind," then the little grey alien seemed to blush before he added, "For a dweeb, I mean, of course"

At that moment Ben changed back still blushing and practically spat out, "That was the alien talking!" Ben seemed to be trying to put distance between himself now and the him as Grey Matter before.

Gwen lost it and started laughing, holding her flat stomach with one arm and using the other to stop herself from falling over.

Ben folded his arms, "Whatever, dweeb."

Gwen pointed into the air as a cheshire grin spread across her face and retorted, "Your dweeb."

Ben's blush deepened, and his eyes squinted as he tried to will literal daggers from his eyes.

She smiled at him and walked over to the table. Ben hopped down from sitting on the edge of the table to sit on the cushions in front of the computer.

Gwen walked over to him and asked politely, "Would you scoot over please?"

Ben looked at her still frustrated and replied by sticking his tongue out at her and rolling his eyes.

Gwen shrugged and then sat across his lap in front of her laptop.

His eyes grew huge and he squeaked out, "What are you doing? Get your big butt off of me!?"

"I am looking at what you are doing on MY laptop." she stated matter of fact.

The To Do's were on the front page she read a little of it and was surprised by a couple of lines. One read, _"Remember to thank Gwendolyn,"_ and another read, _"After the watch is able to be used again change into Upgrade and make these changes [long list of specific requirements] and remember: do not take this time to mess with her computer or her diary, otherwise she won't allow the use of her laptop in the future!"_

Gwen asked, "When are you going to thank me?" She looked at Ben who was looking uncomfortable. He was as red as she had ever seen him, and he was trying to look at anything but her.

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you okay?"

He replied in a whisper, " Yeah, but could you get your big butt off me… please?"

It was Gwen's turn to blush. She pushed herself off of him and on to the cushion next to him.

Ben then pushed the laptop in front of her while pressing his face against the table to cool down and finally confessed, "I don't know when or how I'll thank you. I have a hard time following my thoughts when I am Grey Matter." He sighed then continued. " When I am Four Arms I am pretty much me, when I am Wildmutt I am more… wild. I can follow my thoughts more or less as most of my aliens, but as Grey Matter it's more like I am only partially me."

Gwen was about to say something when the watch turned green. Ben quickly messed with it and changed into Upgrade. He fused with the laptop almost instantly.

Soon after, a green and black smiley face appeared on the front screen and winked at her.

Upgrade then jumped out of the computer and in a synthesized voice said, "There, I am done…You won't EVER have to upgrade your laptop again. You're welcome"

Gwen blinked a few times and then said, "Thank you Ben," she waited for him to transform back and then gave him a hug.

* * *

A day passed, and they were still making good time for the Sumo Slammers closed showing. At least that is what Grampa told them.

All was going good when suddenly one of the many combinations suggested by the program Grey Matter had designed finally did something.

The Omnitrix glowed blue, _"Level one restrictions unlocked. Time limiter level 1 lifted. Observation mode added. Albedo experimental DNA is now accessible for Galvanic Biomorph and Polymorph."_

Ben and Gwen both said in confusion, "What's that?" as the watch started glowing pink, _"Temporal anomaly detected."_

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the long pause, a lot was happening in my life and the life of those that help me.**

 **Shout-out to** **csgt He always a great help to me.**

 **Between work this month and a trip I am taking there will probably be another long pause between updates. I was going to jump straight into the next chapter of BTW, but I wanted to get an idea out of my head. so, the next chapter is going to be another DOAA. look forward to it ^_^**

 **If you ever have any question don't hesitate to ask in a review or pm.**


	9. Chapter 8 My Cushlamochree

**A few translations for this chapter, though note I will not do this for spells.**

 **Cushlamochree: vein of my heart (some one that is as important to you as the blood in your veins)**

 ** _Seanáthair: Grandfather_**

 ** _muintir: this is normally used for parents, but it can be used for clan and family members._**

* * *

 **My Cushlamochree**

 _Want to say thinks again to csgt your a big help and sorry for any and all of my errors!_

If Gwen and Ben had not just been sitting, they would have been on the floor as Grampa Max slammed on the break. He had done so because the cabin was now filled with an intense orange and red light.

Gwen instinctively activated her aura sight. At the center of the blinding light she could see a shape. She could barely make out anything at first. It just looked like a random circle filled with curved lines. Though, as her eyes adopted to the light, her hand shot up to the necklace Ben had given her, which rested under her shirt. She pulled it out and looked at the charm and then at the symbol floating in front of her.

They were not exactly the same, but they were close enough that it could not be a coincidence. _"They must be related somehow."_

Then all the light seemed to be sucked in by the floating charm. The cabin became eerily quiet and still as if the universe itself was holding its breath.

Grampa Max came into view standing up from the driver area looking into the cabin with a determined frown across his face. Gwen and Ben didn't notice, for they were mesmerized by the charm. It started to hum causing the air around it to ripple like a disturbed reflecting pool.

At first nothing seemed to be happening, but then a slender manicured finger started pushing through followed by arms and then a whole person!

As the symbol disappeared everyone was able to get a better view. Now, standing in the middle of the cabin was a young woman wearing a short blue t-shirt, with tight fitting white pants, a contrasting black belt, and a black choker around a pale neck.

This woman stood fully erect with long bouncy red hair styled in a relaxed low ponytail and long bangs in the front. This all helped to frame her beautiful face which had a light brushing of red freckles that stood out against her almost ivory skin. These freckles started at her nose and crossed along her cheek like a permanent blush that drew everyone to her emerald eyes.

She moved some of her hair back away from her face, which revealed that her ears sported 3 different piercings, one large bronze hoop and two smaller piercings toward the top of her ears. Gwen found herself admitting that this looked classier than she normally thought piercings could be.

As she started moving, it was easy to tell that this woman chose a shirt that hugged her chest in a way that showed off her assets. She couldn't help herself, yet again feeling irritated as her tongue moved against her teeth making a "tsk!"sound.

The woman's eyes widen as she looked at Gwen and Ben. She rushed forward and placed her hands on the sides of Ben's face saying, "You're so little!" she smiled as her eye lid lowered at him and then she whispered, "I kinda miss you like this, even if you could be a major doofus!"

The voice sounded familiar to Gwen like the voice she had heard come from her in the vision she had the other day, though it had a slight Irish accent to it.

Gwen didn't dwell on this long as she heard Ben flustered voice say, "Y-You h-have pretty eyes."

Gwen looked over at Ben; he was blushing with a slack jawed expression as he stared at the woman in front of him. Gwen felt herself growing angry for no reason she could think of and rushed over pushing herself between Ben and the woman, as emphatically saying, "I don't know who you are, but leave my doofus alone!"

She blushed and thought to herself, " _Why did I just say that_!"

The woman raised an eyebrow saying in a quizzical manner, "YOUR doofus already, that is interesting."

She then looked confused, "Why are your accents so funny?" She then saw the Omnitrix on Ben's arm and said in shock, "How do you have the Omnitrix, Ben?"

Okay, Gwen was officially confused. " _How did she know Ben's name and how does she know of the Omnitrix?_ "

The woman turned around as Grampa Max hesitantly approached her.

Upon seeing Max she beamed as she yelled, " _Seanáthair!"_ and ran over throwing her arms around Grampa Max

Grampa Max said, "Seanáthair," and chewed on the word as he pronounced it then look shocked as he tentatively said, "Gwendolyn?"

Gwendolyn shot her head back, "Why is your accent off too?" She took a step back and her eyes glowed a purple-pink.

To Gwen, this woman that Grampa had just called by her name - 'Gwendolyn' - was ablaze with energy that seem to flow from every direction towards her.

Gwendolyn blushed and whispered, "Ah I see."

Everyone just stared at her as if saying, _"Ah, I see what?"_

She blinked and then said looking at Gwen, "Ah, yes, well, hello, I am Gwen, or, um, well, I guess Gwendolyn if you prefer, it seems I am you, but not you."

Gwen almost choke as she blurted out, "What do you mean you're me? How did you get here?!"

Gwen look to Ben for support, but he was still staring at Gwendolyn. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, looking at Gwendolyn and waiting for an answer, while tapping her right foot unintentionally.

Gwendolyn smiled and said, "You see, I was helping my Ben," she winked at Ben, "who works for SPeCTeRS. We were fighting an Ectonurite who had possessed a Chimeran who was wielding the Omnitrix."

This was all a little too much for Gwen and she asked with furrowed brows, "What is a Ectonurite and a Chimeran, and what is SPeCTeRS?"

Grampa Max decided to chime in, "SPeCTeRS, Select PErsonal Capture Transport & REtrieval Service. They are a American exclusive branch of SECT, an Ectonurite is what Ben calls Ghostfreak, and Vilgax is a Chimeran."

Gwen was shocked and asked, "How do you know this, Grampa?"

Max smiled and started to say, "Well one…."

Gwendolyn interrupted with a very light giggle, "He was on a 'plumbing' job somewhere like Roswell and heard things. Right?"

Max gave a slight shrug, but smiled saying, "Yeah, something like that... Though my story would have been funnier." He gave Gwendolyn a toothy grin.

Gwen could not help, but to think, " _Not you too, Grampa!_ "

She lowered her arms feeling defeated as Gwendolyn continued, "In the middle of the fight I was blasted pretty far away by an attack. Thankfully, I had a shielding spell up," Gwen perked up and started to pay more attention, "so after I recovered, I tried to use a scrying spell and a teleportation spell together."

Gwendolyn blushed and looked away as she finished, "I was trying to lock on to the Omnitrix, but I was also worried thinking about Ben." She looked back at Ben and placed her hand behind her before continuing. "Well, apparently there is some kind of anomaly here which let the spells find Ben and the watch in the same location, so now I am here." She quickly added, "but, as soon as I can find my Ben, I'll be saying goodbye."

Ben frowned and asked, "If I don't have the Omnitrix, then how can I fight baddies?"

Gwendolyn smiled, "Cushlamochree, you are a great man and you have never needed a watch to be that."

Max looked taken aback by what she said.

She continued with a wicked cheshire grin,"You are a doofus, you will forget the simplest things, you are stubborn, you are cocky, you can have a wicked mean streak, and you hold grudges."

Ben was taken aback and tried to protest, "Ha! Wha..."

She put up a finger silencing him mid-word as she walked towards him with a sway to her hips that made Ben blush again, " But, that is all in contrast to the fact that you can be surprisingly charming, you always remember what is important, you are accepting and thoughtful, you are loving to the point you would sacrifice yourself for others, and you can forgive people for their flaws... and you are also brave to a fault!"

After finishing these words, Gwendolyn reached Ben and leaned over, kissing him on the forehead as she whispered, "Most of all, you're my one and only doofus."

Gwen, before she could stop herself or think about what she was saying, yelled out, "He is MY Doofus!"

Gwen's face first paled then turned beet red as Ben looked toward her with the same expression of, "What!"

Gwen tried to back pedal stammering over, "I...I me..I mean... He is my cousin after all." She then grabbed the sides of her shirt and pulled them down frustrated.

Gwendolyn gave Gwen a smile that irritated her for some reason. It practically screamed, " _I know something you don't_!"

Gwen tried to change the subject as fast as possible, "Then what are you in this other reality?"

Gwendolyn smiled and snapped her fingers dramatically whipping her hand to her head.

To everyone's surprise in her hand and on her head was what looked to be a cheesy Halloween styled witches hat and she stated, "I am the Witch of Bellwood."

She stood in a pose with her left hand and arm stretched out to her side forming the shape of a 'hand 'gun with a glowing orb at the tip of her index finger. Her right hand pulled down the rim of her hat to cover her face.

Ben laughed at the display and Gwendolyn looked up from under that hat, wiggling her eyebrows and stating, "That always gets my Cushlamochree too."

Gwen just shook her head, " _Why does she frustrate me so much?_ "

Grampa Max sighed saying, "Well, if we are going to make it to are next destination will need to keep heading out." He then looked at Gwendolyn and said, "Before you go, can we talk?"

Gwendolyn smiled and said, "Of course seanáthair."

Grampa turned around and went back to the front of the Rustbucket, started it up and continued the journey.

Gwendolyn while still smiling said, "I'll try and figure out what opened up this reality to mine, hopefully close it off, and then I'll go home."

She stood there and pulled one leg up and amazingly the other somehow, she sat cross legged, midair. She closed her eyes.

Gwen could again feel the air in the cabin flowing towards her counterpart and even without activating her sight she could see power moving within it.

Gwendolyn's eyes snapped open and she spoke the word, " _Aperio_."

Gwen was rooted in place staring at her because her eyes now glowed like burning embers with such intensity that she felt like a moth drawn to a flame. The air began to smell of ozone, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and her skin tingled as air seemingly crawled over her skin as it moved towards the floating figure in the middle of the cabin.

Gwen slowly pulled herself away from the scene unfolding before her, even though she was interested and wanted to see magic in action from someone who knew what they were doing, but she was unreasonably irritated by Gwendolyn.

She felt even more irritated seeing Ben mesmerized by her. So, she purposely walked over, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards their bunks.

"Wait, what's going on!?" Ben stammered.

"We are going to play Sumo Slammers for a bit. I have some anger to take out on some ninjas," Gwen replied.

Gwen and Ben played Sumo Slammers for a few hours before Ben decided to call it quits and went to bed.

Gwen found she couldn't sleep, so she sat across the dining table seats, holding her legs to her chest and trying not to think of anything.

She didn't have much luck with that. Life seemed to be getting muddier all the time. She had just started coming into her own when suddenly she was having a weird vision and now there was an alternate her!

This frustrated Gwen, especially every time she caught Ben staring at the aforementioned other her. She didn't know why it irritated her, but it did!

" _I need to stop dwelling on this and go to bed. Maybe everything will be better tomorrow,_ " she thought with a sigh. She was feeling defeated.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice the other her coming up and almost screamed when Gwendolyn touched her knee and said, "We have to talk."

Gwen stoically held back the scream and instead snapped her eyes open and furrowed her brows while staring warily at Gwendolyn. She eventually managed to mumble, "About what?"

Gwendolyn eyes began to glow, and she whispered, " _Sonitus placide._ " Gwen could see a gold ring form around them and the air became almost stifling.

Gwendolyn smiled, but it didn't bring any comfort to Gwen. It reminded her of a predator. She slipped her hand off Gwen and then asked, "So, let me guess, you found an interesting spell and couldn't resist testing it out?"

Gwen's head shot back, and she stumbled over her words, "What!?" Gwen then shook her head in denial stating, "I don't know any spells yet. I just learned of magic a few days ago." She pulled her knees closer to herself, hiding her mouth as she stared at a shocked Gwendolyn.

Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow and asked in a soft confused voice, "Are you lying?"

Gwen wanted to be mad, but she couldn't muster the emotions to do it and instead just whispered, "The only thing I've been able to figure out is something called Aura Sight." She blushed trying to hide her face behind her knees looking away from this...this other Gwen in front of her.

"Really? You can use Aura Sight without a spell, totem, or charm? And you only learned of magic a short time ago?!" Gwendolyn asked.

Gwen wondered to herself, " _I don't know why this is so surprising. You are me, just with an accent and freckles, right?_ " She then rested her chin on her knees and looked at Gwendolyn now curious.

Gwendolyn wrinkled her nose, something Gwen knew she did when thinking, and finally said, "If that so, then you have a lot of untapped potential. More than I had at your age which is interesting, _muintir_."

Gwen could only say, "Huh, that is interesting." Then they both laughed breaking the tension that was wedged between them.

Gwendolyn walked across the table and sat down as Gwen asked, "So, what is with the ring," she pointed at the golden ring around them.

She looked up from Gwen at the ring and smiled while replying, "It's an enchantment called a ward, nothing short of a powerful magic user or maybe some Galvan technology can hear us inside this ring. It's something I crafted myself," she said the last part with a smugness that bothered Gwen.

Gwendolyn's eyes then dilated, and she got a far-off look as she added, "I didn't want to wake _seanáthair..._ or Ben," her smile and tone soften at the end. Gwen was irritated again at her, but she didn't want to end the nice mood because of her own confusions.

Gwen hid her face behind her knees again. Gwendolyn smirked and asked, "What are you stressing about? I do the same thing when I am fretting over something."

Gwen mumbled, "Nothing that I am willing to talk about right now."

Gwendolyn shrugged saying, "Well, your thoughts are your own, but I'll say this." She stared into Gwen's eyes in such a way that Gwen shivered. It felt as if the other her was looking into the most guarded part of her mind as she said, "So, what do you think of Ben anyway, Gwenie?" Her smile grew cheshire after asking the question.

Gwen managed to keep most of her face hidden behind her knees, but still she had almost let her head rocket up from the out of nowhere question.

She still found herself blushing as she sheepishly replied, "He is my cousin. I love him very much, so much at times that I think I've lost my mind... and would do anything for him even if he is a doofus at times." Small tears appeared at the corners of her eyes as she finished saying her feelings out loud.

Gwendolyn smile grew more wolfish as she asked, "Your doofus?"

Gwen was confused answering as her face was growing warmer from the spreading blush, "What does that even mean?"

Gwendolyn looked up as if thinking and then stated, "Hmmm, only you can answer that question, but I'll add this. Has Ben ever called you 'His dweeb?' and how did it make you feel?"

Gwen closed her eyes and thought back to the time in the alley when Ben had said, _"….that is something my Dweeb would say."_ she focused on words, _"my Dweeb."_

Her face grew bright red and an involuntary smile crossed her face as she said, "Warm, safe, loved, but also my heart ached and still aches when I think of him saying it." Gwen sighed in frustration, letting out her thoughts in a rush, "I don't know what it means or if it should even mean anything!"

Gwendolyn smiled saying, "You will in time." She frowned slightly. "If your Ben is anything like mine, and I think he is, that is all you will need: time! Hmmm, now on to other matters, like teaching you a few spells after I fix the tear in time around you."

Gwen narrowed her eyes and asked hotly, "What does that mean?"

Gwendolyn smiled again, "Nothing nefarious, trusts me, but does your Ben charge head first into whatever danger is happening in front of him?"

Gwen shot up turning in the seats to face her slapping the table as she yelled, "Yes! He doesn't even think the situation through or how anyone might feel if he gets hurt!"

Gwendolyn was shocked as a magical wind rushed over her from Gwen. To most people they might feel a strange warm breeze, but it had an untapped power backing it and she could feel it hit her like a solid mass.

Gwendolyn nodded her head and said, "You are going to need training _muintir_ to safely tap into your powers."

Gwen asked in a quiet voice, "Whom could I find to train me?"

Gwendolyn just shrugged as she replied, "That is for you to figure out, though like I said earlier, I'll give you some tips before I go."

Gwen placed her head down on the table and felt the cold surface against her cheek. She stared over at the wall for a few moments before asking, "What are your feelings for Ben?"

With no hesitation at all she said, "He is my Cushlamochree. What else is there to say?" Gwendolyn smiled at Gwen. Gwen looked up to catch the smile that she knew she had never used before, though she couldn't place what the smile was for it still caused her to blush.

Gwen looked her in the eyes and asked, "What does that mean?"

Gwendolyn stuck the tip of her tongue out still smiling and then stated, "I don't want to pollute this timeline too much, so I think you should figure that out yourself."

Gwen could feel her face growing hot again all the way to the back of her ears and for some reason her heart was fluttering. She had been feeling this way a lot lately and it confused her.

Gwendolyn recognized the turmoil in her counterpart's face and gave a reassuring smile as she said, "This is going to be the start of a confusing era for you, so just try and relax and go with the flow. I promise everything will be alright."

Once she finished, they both noticed the ring on Gwendolyn's hand turn purple. Gwendolyn sighed and stated, "Well, I just found my Ben, so I'll teach you a meditation technique that will help you center your mind for image training." She smiled at the ring then added, "It will also help you control the mana in you and around you, which might help you control your power and yourself safely."

Gwen's attention was now fully focused on Gwendolyn. Anything that could help her become stronger was a priority no matter what her inner conflicts at the moment were.

At that instant Gwen noticed that the ring on her hand had something engraved on it.

Gwen leaned forward, but could barely read some of the words, "You are forever mi…" She didn't get any further before suddenly piercing hot pain shot through her head and she screamed.

Gwendolyn's eyes widened, and she instinctively put up a shield around herself. The semitransparent purple shield rippled as Gwen continued screaming.

Gwendolyn quickly started chanting a spell to calm Gwen down when she noticed the liquids in the cups in front of her were now floating in midair and boiling and the wood of the table started to steam, crack, and smoke.

The rippling of the shield grew more intense as the moments went on. Even the gold ring of her ward started to flicker like it would fail.

Even though only a few moments had past for Gwendolyn, for Gwen it was like hours. Her hands pressed sharply against her temples as she tried to will the blinding white pain to stop. Through it though, she could see images three opened suitcases, a female sheriff placing fingers against her forehead, and a handsome man sporting a goatee saying, "What is it, my one and only?" and then a shared passionate kiss between them. As, each fragmented memory passed through her mind the pain became more and more intense.

That was until a voice pierced the void yelling, "O _blivio reddere somnio."_ All Gwen knew from the moment those words were spoken was the peacefully but still black emptiness of a dreamless sleep.

Gwendolyn stood over Gwen huffing as perspiration ran down her face and she exclaimed, " _What in the nine hells?_!"

The table directly in front of Gwen and the seat behind her was blackened, "What is so different about this reality?" Gwendolyn said exasperated.

She frowned as she went over to pick up Gwen, so she could fix the damage done to the Rustbucket before anyone notice, but before she could she stopped.

Laying across her younger self's chest was a long white feather that was at least as long as her torso. "'Hmm' things sure are interesting over here. I'll need to tell Ben about this when I get back… well after our date," Gwendolyn said with a smile.

Now, through the whole ordeal Gwendolyn had been distracted protecting herself and placing Gwen into a peaceful rest, so she never noticed that her charm had been broken or that Ben was sitting up in his bunk, looking confused at the damage in the kitchen as well as blushing from hearing what Gwendolyn had just said.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **So, work told me that we will be working every day until the end of November, so there will be huge delays for DOAA and BTW. Work lies to us all the time, so I am assuming it will be until 2019. XD**

 **Leave Reviews, hate, constructive or destructive criticisms, encouragement what have you. I'll read them!**

 **As always hope you enjoy!**


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